Last night, I went to see a professional soccer game in Kansas City. It was the first soccer game in a new stadium built specifically for soccer. Here are 10 things I like:
1) the name of the stadium is the Livestrong Sporting Park. Livestrong is a foundation created by a certain cyclist and yes, the 7 time Tour de France winner was at the game.
3) Livestrong Sporting Park was advertised as the most technologically advanced stadium in the world. Free high-speed wireless access and 2 high definition big screens. How the fans will find time to watch the game is a mystery to me.
Stadium officials said 'the free high-speed Wi-Fi will allow fans to access mobile applications, social networking sites, and more.' (Anthony Weiner would love this stadium!)
4) One of the team sponsors is a bank and this bank was offering to take photos of the fans with the players, free of charge. The girl from the bank told me I could go on line to download my photo for Facebook publication. I said I don't have Facebook and she thought I was from outer space. 'You don't have Facebook???'
5) Despite the high tech promise, all the stadium gift shops were not able to open for business due to a computer malfunction for several hours. That was cruel to deny Americans the pleasure of shopping at a sporting event.
6) So with nothing to do before the game, I walked around and admired the soccer fashion. Most popular were the Sporting shirts, Second were the old Wizard shirts. And third were shirts from Mexico. Lots of Mexican fans because Omar Bravo played for Sporting.
10) The game ended 0-0. The two most exciting moments were when the Sporting goalie got a red card for touching the ball outside the box in the 67th minute and when a fan dressed up in an animal costume ran onto the field.
This fan carried a soccer ball with him and he ran across the field and kicked the ball into the goal of Chicago. It was the only time in the match a goal was scored.
1) the name of the stadium is the Livestrong Sporting Park. Livestrong is a foundation created by a certain cyclist and yes, the 7 time Tour de France winner was at the game.
2) The name of the home team is the Sporting Kansas City (probably a copy from Sporting Lisboa). Last year, the team was called the Kansas City Wizards. The owners decided to rebrand the team.
When I asked around why they were called Wizards, I was told 'well we have the KC Chiefs who play American football, the KC Royals who play baseball, and we used to have a basketball team called the KC Kings. Chiefs, Royals, Kings, Wizards - these are names denoting leadership'
I asked 'you don't think it is for the Wizard of Oz? We are still in Kansas!'
3) Livestrong Sporting Park was advertised as the most technologically advanced stadium in the world. Free high-speed wireless access and 2 high definition big screens. How the fans will find time to watch the game is a mystery to me.
Stadium officials said 'the free high-speed Wi-Fi will allow fans to access mobile applications, social networking sites, and more.' (Anthony Weiner would love this stadium!)
4) One of the team sponsors is a bank and this bank was offering to take photos of the fans with the players, free of charge. The girl from the bank told me I could go on line to download my photo for Facebook publication. I said I don't have Facebook and she thought I was from outer space. 'You don't have Facebook???'
5) Despite the high tech promise, all the stadium gift shops were not able to open for business due to a computer malfunction for several hours. That was cruel to deny Americans the pleasure of shopping at a sporting event.
6) So with nothing to do before the game, I walked around and admired the soccer fashion. Most popular were the Sporting shirts, Second were the old Wizard shirts. And third were shirts from Mexico. Lots of Mexican fans because Omar Bravo played for Sporting.
7) The last time I was at an inaugural soccer game in a new stadium was in Zurich and I was confused with the bathroom sign. No problem this time.
8) Because the Livestrong Sporting Park was not ready when the season began in April, the team asked the league to let them play 10 away games first. The league said yes.
In the 10 away games, they won 1, drew 3, and lost 10.
9) So last night was the first home game of the season for the Sporting Kansas City team. And the opponents were their rivals, the Chicago Fire.
I sat near the away fan section. Just before the game started, a few Chicago fans started a small fire since that was their name.
The security guards did not like that and went in to eject a few Chicago fans from the stadium.
10) The game ended 0-0. The two most exciting moments were when the Sporting goalie got a red card for touching the ball outside the box in the 67th minute and when a fan dressed up in an animal costume ran onto the field.
This fan carried a soccer ball with him and he ran across the field and kicked the ball into the goal of Chicago. It was the only time in the match a goal was scored.
from the Livestrong Sporting Park, this is Sebastian
How long are you staying in the states? Do you plan to visit CA?
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